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Junction is a good symbolic link tool in XP. However, it's not so easy to use at first moment, ie. only can use command line interface; move/rename target file/folder; got to use 'junction -d ' to delete link, don't allow delete in explore, but it's hard to distinguish if it's a symbolic link.

Is there any guides for how to use junction in XP like what to do and not to do?

Nifle
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Stan
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2 Answers2

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I use Link Shell Extension for these purposes. It can create Hardlinks, Junctions, Volume Mountpoints and Symbolic links right from files' context menu in Explorer. It also adds small overlay icons to each link which is unique for one link type.

There is also a Symbolic Link Driver for Windows XP, which brings Vista's and Seven's symbolic linking capability to XP and works well with the Link Shell Extension.

Oliver Salzburg
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Simon Perepelitsa
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There's another little extra with the Link Shell Extension: it can tell when the folder you're trying to "pick up" (mark as the target of a reparse point) is on a volume that's not NTFS. I had the appropriate open-source tools to mount, read and write to an Ext3 volume -- a hard drive I had screwed up a Kubuntu install on but kept around as-is for storage purposes -- and once or twice, when I tried to "pick up" a folder I'd created on that volume in Windows Explorer, Link Shell Extension's pick-up command was conspicuous by its absence.

It does the same thing for any shared folders. Any directory not on an NTFS volume, it just plain doesn't work with. In these circumstances, where "Junction Link Magic" gives an error: LSE simply refuses to "show up."

BZT

SilversleevesX
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